That Troublesome Blonde
by TheIchirakuKage
Summary: Why Shikamaru decided to talk to Naruto Uzumaki is something that he will never find out. What confuses him is some signs that point to the conclusion that Naruto is not the person that he claims to be.


That Troublesome Blonde

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own any OC that I make.

**Notice: I have discussed any similarities this story and "All Started With A Smell" by o0Black-Sand0o. She has given me the green light on using her story as a base of inspiration. Now, that does not mean our stories will be the same or anything like that. They are two separate entities that happen to share a few similarities. Chapter 2 of this story will help clear any doubts of this up. BTW: Chapter 2 will be up within the next week. My laptop has been having issues and my original draft for Chapter 2 was deleted in the process of fixing the issues. I am currently rewriting Chapter 2 and will upload it as soon as possible. I thank you all for your patience.**

AN: This chapter takes place when Naruto and Shikamaru are 11 years old.

Shikamaru Nara was not an average child. He was highly intelligent, lazy, and a slacker. He listened to the the females in his life berate him for being him, but his only response to that would be, "What a drag" or "How troublesome." While he only got average grades in the academy, he did it for a reason: he didn't want to be labeled as a prodigy. He knew that every prodigy in Konoha's history were completely messed up from graduating too early or could not handle the pressure of the title and got themselves or their teammates killed. Shikamaru didn't want to be burdened with that. The only thing he wanted was to be an average shinobi, get married to an average girl, and maybe have one or two kids, one son and maybe a daughter as well. Shikamaru was hoping to not be noticed in the academy, so he was a quiet student and only talked to his best friend Choji Akimichi.

Currently, Shikamaru was being pestered by one of his classmates, Naruto Uzumaki, the dead-last of the class. "C'mon Shikamaru! You have to help me with this one prank," pleaded the blonde-haired student. "I promise you it will be fun! Also, I will play a game of shogi with you if you help."

How did Shikamaru end up in this situation? Well, it would have to do with the fact that he got detention for sleeping in class from Iruka-sensei. Coincidentally, Naruto had detention for hiding a dungbomb in Mizuki's desk.

With a sigh, Shikamaru replied, "Fine Naruto, I'll help you, but we better not get caught. What is your plan?"

"Plan? Oh yeah! What if we painted the Academy walls orange with purple dots? That would be so cool," the blonde yelled.

Knowing that if he tried changing Naruto's mind, the plan would get even more destructive or crazy, Shikamaru agreed to the blonde's plan. Before they could leave the room, Iruka walks in. "Where do you think you boys are going? Get to reading what both of you missed in class," shouted Iruka.

"Why should I read about some old coots fighting in war over thirty years ago when I'm going to become Hokage? The Hokage just needs to be strong, not booksmart," complained Naruto. Iruka commenced to yell at Naruto even more to read the book and shut up. As Shikamaru read the book, he couldn't help but slowly fall asleep due to his boredness.

"No sleeping in detention!" shouted Iruka as Shikamaru felt something hit his head.

"What a drag Sensei," drawled the lazy dark-haired boy. What surprised Shikamaru though was the sound of a giggle coming from beside of him. Looking over to his left, Shikamaru could see Naruto holding his hand over his mouth in a way to suppress the giggles to come out of his mouth. Why was he giggling? Giggling was a girly thing and boys didn't giggle. Speaking of girly things, where did that smell come from? Shikamaru could smell some sort of flower coming from Naruto. Why would Naruto be wearing perfume?

"Do you smell that?" asked Shikamaru.

"Smell what?" responded Naruto.

"Nevermind," stated Shikamaru.

"No talking in detention!" screamed Iruka.

As detention finished, Naruto bolted out of the door as he told Shikamaru to meet him at the academy the next day for their plan. Walking to Iruka's desk, Shikamaru proceeded to say, "Iruka-sensei, I couldn't help but notice that Naruto was having troubles reading the book today. Also, I noticed that he doesn't do well on writing assignments and has horrible grades."

Iruka frowned in confusion. " You don't have the best grades either Shikamaru, so what does it matter to you? I hope that you aren't making fun of Naruto."

"No" Shikamaru sighed, "I am trying to say that I think that Naruto might be illiterate Sensei."

Shocked, Iruka is silent for a minute. "No, that's not possible! I surely must have had Naruto read something out loud in class. If he was illiterate, he could not have joined the academy!"

"Sensei, you have called Naruto to read something in class, but he always gets you off topic by asking where we are in the reading or stating that future Hokages shouldn't have to read boring passages in books and you end up asking someone else to read instead. Usually, parents teach their kids how to read before the academy, but Naruto is an orphan and probably has had nobody to teach him how to read."

"Shikamaru, I'll have to talk to Naruto about this. Please don't mention this conversation to anyone because people don't like Naruto as a result of… him being a prankster."

Confused by Iruka's statement, Shikamaru nodded as he put his hands in his pocket. "Okay Sensei. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to find a field to watch clouds in."

Over the next few weeks, Shikamaru noticed that Naruto's grades in class were improving and that he was reading outside of class as well. Also, Shikamaru started hanging out with Naruto outside of class as well, and he brought Choji with him sometimes.

On on those occasions, Naruto said to him, "Thank you Shikamaru."

"For what Naruto?"

"For noticing that I didn't know how to read and telling Iruka-sensei about it. People might think that I'm and idiot, but I notice things. Like how you stayed back in class that one day we had detention, and that night Iruka-sensei asked me if I knew how to read."

Blushing at this, Shikamaru nods his head. "Your welcome, it was no problem really."

Getting into Shikamaru's personal space, Naruto hugs him and says, "You don't know how much that meant to me, but I have to get back home before Akira gets mad." Shikamaru smells that girly smell again. He doesn't know why Naruto has that type of smell, but before he can ask him about it, Naruto has already disappeared. Why would a boy wear perfume? And who is Akira?


End file.
